Spatial dimensions of intra-metropolitan disparities in commuting time and female labor force participation

Author: Mizuki Kawabata, Yukiko Abe
Date: 2016/11/11
No: DP2016-024
JEL Classification codes: J21, R12, C30
Language: English
[ Abstract / Highlights ]

We examine intra-metropolitan patterns of geographic disparities in female participation in the labor market and their associations with commuting time in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Our analysis based on the Global Moran’s I and Getis-Ord Gi* statistics reveals that the spatial patterns of labor force participation and regular employment rates differ markedly by marital status and the presence of children. Compared with unmarried women and married women without children, married women with children exhibit more significant spatial clustering of high and low values of labor force participation and regular employment rates, and these rates are negatively correlated with male commuting time. The non-spatial and spatial regression results show that for married women with children, longer commuting time is significantly associated with lower participation and regular employment rates, while for unmarried women and married women without children, the associations are mostly insignificant. These results are robust to different model specifications and spatial weights. Our findings suggest that policies alleviating commuting constraints help women with children in dual-earner couples more actively participate in the labor market.